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22 May 2015

Civil servant in £110k 12 year benefit fraud

A civil servant who claimed more than £110,000 in fraudulent benefits has been jailed.

Neil Smith, 38, from Penge, kept his job secret from Bromley Council and the Department for Work and Pensions and continued to claim benefits for 12 years.

But officials eventually spotted what was going on when they compared the Home Office payroll with benefit records.

Smith, of Penge Lane, was found to have fraudulently claimed £46,563 in housing benefit and £9,356 in council tax benefit from March 2002 to February 2014. He also fraudulently claimed £11,755 of Income Support.

He initially denied three charges of benefit fraud, but changed his plea to guilty ahead of his trial at Croydon Crown Court and was jailed for eight months.

Smith will also have to pay back all the money, as well as £42,599 he claimed for severe disablement allowance, although a charge relating to this claim was withdrawn.